Grille interchanging method and apparatus

ABSTRACT

According to some embodiments of the invention, an appliance having a removable grille includes: a lip located on the appliance having a hook shape; and a hook shaped end on the grille, the lip and hook shaped end dimensioned to allow the grille to substantially pivot with respect to the appliance when the hook shaped end on the grille and the hook shaped lip are engaged with each other. Other embodiments of the invention include a method of mounting a grille on an appliance including: engaging a hook shaped end of the grille with a lip located on the appliance; moving the grille in a substantially pivoting movement with respect to the appliance; and securing the grille to the appliance.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a grille for a blower. More particularly, the present invention relates to a fastening method for fastening a grille to a blower.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Blowers and other appliances that move air often have grilles that protect an interior portion of the appliance from objects outside the appliance. Often the grille will include holes or slots which enable air to flow between inside the appliance and outside the appliance. In many instances, the grille may be integrated with the housing of the appliance or may be attached to the appliance by mechanical fasteners such as screws or bolts. While screws and bolts can do a good job attaching a grille to an appliance, they can be time and labor intensive to manipulate when removing or installing the grille to the appliance.

Further, appliances are often mounted to a wall in an overhead location. When it is desired to clean the appliance or perform other maintenance, the maintenance worker will often climb a ladder to reach a level to where the worker can reach the appliance. The worker will remove the grille, descend down from the ladder to put the grille down and then climb up the ladder the second time in order to perform the maintenance. Once the maintenance is performed, the worker then will climb down the ladder, get the grille, and then climb back up the ladder a third time in order to reinstall the grille onto the appliance.

Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an appliance with a grille system where the grille can be quickly and easily attached to and removed from the appliance. Further, it is desirable to provide a method an apparatus where a grille can be moved from its normal position on the appliance to another position where it can be out of the way, yet still be attached to the appliance so that when a worker on a ladder or in another position can perform maintenance operations on the appliance and then replace the grille without having to completely remove the grille from the appliance during the maintenance operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The foregoing needs are met, to a great extent, by the present invention, wherein in one aspect an apparatus is provided that in some embodiments a grille can be quickly and easily removed and attached to an appliance. In some embodiments, a grille can be removed from a first position to a second position to permit maintenance such as cleaning or other operations on the appliance without the grille being completely removed from the appliance.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, an appliance having a removable grille is provided. In some embodiments of the invention, the appliance includes: a lip located on the appliance having a hook shape; and a hook shaped end on the grille, the lip and hook shaped end dimensioned to allow the grille to substantially pivot with respect to the appliance when the hook shaped end on the grille and the hook shaped lip are engaged with each other.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a method of mounting a grille on an appliance is accomplished. In some embodiments of the invention, the method includes: engaging a hook shaped end of the grille with a lip located on the appliance; moving the grille in a substantially pivoting movement with respect to the appliance; and securing the grille to the appliance.

In accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention, an appliance having a removable grille is provided. In some embodiments of invention the appliance includes a first hooking means for engaging a grille located on a housing of the appliance; and a second hooking means engaging the first hooking means for allowing the grille substantially pivot with respect to the appliance; and fasting means to secure the grille to the appliance in a removable manner.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, certain embodiments of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof herein may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional embodiments of the invention that will be described below and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of embodiments in addition to those described and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein, as well as the abstract, are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an end view of an appliance showing a grille in a secure location attached to the appliance in solid lines, the grille is shown in two other locations in broken lines, one where the grille is swinging from the secure location to a pendant location still attached to the appliance and the other location is a pendant position.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion from FIG. 1 illustrating a hook connection of the grille with a lip on the appliance other positions of the grille are shown in broken lines.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a grille in a secured position on an appliance according to some embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an appliance with a grille removed in accordance to some of the embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention will now be described with reference to the drawing figures, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout. An embodiment in accordance with the present invention provides an appliance such as a blower, capable of creating an air curtain. The appliance includes a grille having a slot mounted on the appliance. In some of the embodiments of the invention, the grille is mounted on the appliance by a pivoting connection. The pivoting connection allows the grille to substantially pivot with the respect to the appliance. In some embodiments of the invention, the grille is also mounted to the appliance by a releasable connection that secures the grille to the appliance.

An embodiment of the present inventive apparatus is illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is an end view of an appliance 10 such as a blower. Blowers are often used in an industrial applications to provide a curtain of air between an inside of a building and the outside. The curtain of air is useful in hindering cold air in the winter from entering the building and in the summer reducing cool air from the building escaping to the outside. Thus, air curtains are used to help reduce losing treated inside air to the outside.

As shown in FIG. 1 the blower 10 has a centrifugal fan 12. The centrifugal fan 12 is connected to a motor 14 which drives the centrifugal fan 12. The centrifugal fan 12 and the motor 14 are connected to a frame 16. The centrifugal fan 12, the motor 14, and the frame 16 are contained within a housing 18. A grille 20 is connected to the housing 18.

The grille 20 includes vanes 22 and slits 24 (slits 24 are better shown in FIG. 3). The grille 20 shown in FIG. 1 in solid lines illustrates the grille 20 in a secured position. In some embodiments of the invention, when the grille 20 is securely (but may be releasably) attached to the housing 18 of the blower 10, the grille 20 and covers the centrifugal fan 12. The grille 20 is also shown in FIG. 1 in two different positions in broken lines. These broken line illustrations show examples of different positions that grille 20 can achieve as it pivots away from the secure position of the illustrated embodiment.

The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a snap fastening system 25 that permits the grille 20 to be secured to the blower 10. The snap fastening system 25 includes snap fasteners 26 located on the grille 20 and posts 28 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The posts 28 can also function as fasteners for other parts of the blower 10 and have a head configured to received a standard or phillips screwdriver as shown in FIG. 2. The post 28 can be connected to the housing 18 and located to receive the snap fasteners 26 from the grille 20 as the grille is moved toward the secured position. Other embodiments of the invention can use other fastening systems such as other snap type fasteners, screws, bolts, rivets, tab and slot, hook and loop, glue, or any other suitable fastening system in accordance with the invention.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the snap fasteners 26 are generally horseshoe in shape. The snap fasteners 26 are configured to flex as the open end of the snap fastener 26 engages the post 28. Once the snap fastener 26 and post 28 are in an engaged position, then the snap fastener 26 relaxes and the snap fastener 26 is then biased to remain engaged with the post 28 as illustrated in FIG. 2 where the grille 20 in solid lines in FIG. 2.

In other embodiments of the invention, fastening system 25 may include screw or bolt fasteners 36 as shown in FIG. 3. In accordance with the invention, the fasteners 36 may have heads configured to be engage standard for phillips screw drivers. In other embodiments of the invention, the fasteners 36 can have structure that can easily be manipulated by hand, such as a wing nut. Structure that may be easily manipulated by hand should not be limited to a wing nut structure as many structures may accomplish the desired result. Decorative structure may be used.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 (better illustrated in FIG. 2) the grille 20 has a crooked shaped end 30. The housing 18 has a hooked shape lip 32. The hooked shaped end 30 and the hooked shaped lip 32 are dimensioned and oriented as can be selected by one skilled in the art to permit the hooked shape end 30 and the hooked shaped lip 32 to engage one another. The hook shaped end 30 and hook shaped lip 32 are dimensioned and oriented to permit the grille 20 to swing through a variety of positions as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.

While the movement of the grille 20 with respect to the blower 18 is not a purely pivotal (in the illustrated embodiment there is some sliding occurring in the junction of the hooked shape end 30 and hooked shaped lip 32) it can be generally considered to be generally a pivotal movement.

The hooked shaped end 30 on the grille 20 and the hooked shaped lip 32 on the housing 18 interact with each other so that a tip portion of the hooked shaped end 30 is located in the hollow of U-shaped portion of the lip 32. A tip portion of the lip 32 is located in the hollow formed by the U-shaped portion of the hooked 30.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 the grille 20 can be swung from a secured position as shown in the solid lines in FIGS. 1 and 2 to a pendant as shown in broken lines in FIGS. 1 and 2 and noted with the letter A. The grille 20 can be swung to a pendant position where the grille 20 is still supported by the appliance 10 but it is not fastened by the fastener system 25 to the appliance 10. Rather the weight of the grille 20 is supported purely by the hooked shaped lip 32 engaging the hooked end 30.

This features allows the grille 20 be moved to the pendant position to permit access to an interior portion of the appliance 20 without requiring that the grille 20 be completely removed from the appliance 10. However, in some embodiments of the invention the grille 20 can be completely removed after being swung towards the pendant position and then being lifted so that the tip portion of the hooked shaped end 30 is removed from the hollow formed by the U-shaped portion of the hooked shaped lip 32.

In some embodiments of the invention, the grille 20, once in a pendant position, maybe disengaged from the lip 32. The grille 20 may be lifted slightly up and to the left (as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) to be disengaged from the lip 32. The grille 20 could also be replaced and reengaged to the lip 32 by orienting the grille 20 in a pendant or a slightly pendant position and reengaging the hooked shaped end 30 with a hooked shaped lip 32.

Appliances such as the blower 10, are often mounted to a wall and may be mounted at a high location such as over a door. As such, in order to access the blower 10, a worker generally needs to climb a ladder in order to reach a location where the blower 10 is located. Some appliances, when mounted high or on a wall are serviced by, a worker that climbs a ladder to remove grille in order to perform maintenance on the appliance. The worker then descends back down the ladder to put the grille down. Then the worker goes back up the ladder to perform maintenance on the appliance. Once the maintenance is completed, the worker again descends down the ladder to get the grille, and goes back up the ladder to replace the grille.

Some embodiments of the invention can reduce all of the bother of going up and down the ladder multiple times by allowing the grille 20 to hang pendant from the blower 10. A worker can loosen the grille 20 from the fastener system 25. Then the worker can pivot the grille 20 to a pendant position. The worker then performs maintenance on an interior portion of the appliance. Once the maintenance is completed the grille 20 is pivoted back to the second position and fastened in placed with a fastener system 25. Thus, some appliances, in accordance with the invention, can reduce the time and trips up and down a latter to perform maintenance tasks on an appliance.

FIG. 3 illustrates a blower 10 according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the blower 10 has a grille 20 in a secure position. The blower 10 includes on a switch 34 for controlling the function of the blower 10. The slits 24 are shown in the grille 20. Fasteners 36 are attached to the grille 20 to keep the grille 20 in a secure position.

The blower 10 will be oriented so that the switch 34 would be facing down when the blower 10 is mounted against a vertical wall. Thus, the slits 24 and the grille 20 would be facing out, away from the wall. Thus, in some embodiments of the invention, the grille 20 when in the pendant position will hang as the grille 20 is shown in FIG. 1 as dashed lines as noted by the letter A.

FIG. 4 is another perspective view of a blower 10 in accordance to some of the embodiments of the inventions. The grille 20 has been removed in order to illustrate some of the interior parts of the blower 10 such as the centrifugal fan 12 and motor 14. The lip 32 is visible.

As shown by comparing FIG. 4 with FIG. 3, a portion of the housing 18 containing several fastener heads 38 is covered by the grille 20 when the grille 20 is in place as shown in FIG. 3. When the grille 20 is secured to the blower 10, the grille 20 can not only provide slits 24 for allowing fluid communication between the outside and the interior portion of the grille 20, the grille 20 can also cover some less aesthetically pleasing portions of the housing 18.

The many features and advantages of the invention are apparent from the detailed specification, and thus, it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such features and advantages of the invention which fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and variations will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation illustrated and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention. 

1. An appliance having a removable grille comprising: a lip located on the appliance having a hook shape; and a hook shaped end on the grille, the lip and hook shaped end dimensioned to allow the grille to substantially pivot with respect to the appliance when the hook shaped end on the grille and the hook shaped lip are engaged with each other.
 2. The appliance of claim 1, further comprising a snap fastener system located on the grille and appliance for removablely securing the grille in place on the appliance.
 3. The appliance of claim 1, wherein the lip and the hook shaped end are dimensioned and oriented so that when the appliance is installed and the grille is pivoted away from a secured position the grille will hang from the lip and be supported by the lip.
 4. The appliance of claim 1, further comprising a fastener for fastening the grille to the appliance.
 5. The appliance of claim 5, wherein the fastener has a head made of at least one of the following: stainless steel and chrome.
 6. The appliance of claim 4, wherein the fastener has structure mounted on the head to permit the fastener to be loosened and tightened by hand.
 7. The appliance of claim 1, wherein the grille is made of at least one of the following: plastic, sheet metal and aluminum.
 8. The appliance of claim 1, the lip and the hook shaped end are dimensioned so that the lip and hook shaped end can be disengaged and the grille removed from the appliance.
 9. The appliance of claim 8, further comprising a second grille different in appearance from the grille and having a hooked end dimensioned and oriented to permit the second grille engage the lip to pivot, and to be installed on the appliance in a removable manner as the grille.
 10. The appliance of claim 1, wherein the lip runs substantially the length of appliance.
 11. The appliance of claim 1, wherein the grille is dimensioned to cover at least a portion of the housing and fasteners.
 12. A method of mounting a grille on an appliance comprising: engaging a hook shaped end of the grille with a lip located on the appliance; moving the grille in a substantially pivoting movement with respect to the appliance; and securing the grille to the appliance.
 13. The method of claim 12, further including engaging the hook shaped end of the grille to a hook shaped portion of the lip.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein securing the grille to the appliance includes snapping the grille in place via a snapping system.
 15. The method of claim 12, wherein securing the grille to the appliance includes using a mechanical faster to attach the grille to a housing portion of the appliance.
 16. The method of claim 12, further comprising releasing the grille from a secured position; and swinging the grille to a predetermined position.
 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising letting go of the grille and having the grille hang from the appliance by the hook shaped end of the grille and the lip.
 18. The method of claim 16, further comprising removing the grille from the appliance and replacing it with a second grille.
 19. An appliance having a removable grille comprising: a first hooking means for engaging a grille located on a housing of the appliance; and a second hooking means engaging the first hooking means for allowing the grille substantially pivot with respect to the appliance; fasting means to secure the grille to the appliance in a removable manner.
 20. The appliance of claim 19, wherein the first and second hooking means are dimensioned and oriented to permit the grille to hang pendant below the appliance when the appliance in installed and the grille can be removed from the appliance by lifting grille while in a pendant position to disengage the first and second hooking means.
 21. The appliance of claim 19, wherein the fastening means includes one or more of the following: a screw, a bolt, a snap fastener. 